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(Energy Conservation : It Doesn’t Cost. It saves)

17.08.2016

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TANGEDCO cannot demand consumption charges with penalty: Madras HC The Hindu: August 13, 2016

Madras High Court bench has ruled that Tamilnadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) cannot demand consumption charges along with penalty if a consumer is found guilty of stealing power, without issuing provisional assessment order and eliciting views of the accused.

Justice S.S. Sundar, allowing a petition, said clause 23AA of Tamil Nadu Electricity Supply Code, 2004, stated that the authorised officer must assess the quantum of consumption as per a formula provided in the code and prepare a provisional assessment order at two times of the tariff applicable to the consumer in case of theft.

Besides the provisional assessment order should be served on the consumer within five days of inspection. It should clearly state the time, date and place at which a written reply to the assessment order should be submitted and the designation and address of the officer to whom the reply should be addressed within seven days.

If the accused did not respond within seven working days then consumption charges and penalty at the rate specified in the code, could be recovered.

On the other hand, if a reply is submitted within this period, the authorised officer should ask the consumer to appear in person for a hearing within three days.

The officer should study the energy consumption pattern of the service connection concerned and drop further proceedings if it was commensurate with the provisionally assessed consumption. He should hear the accused and then pass a final assessment order within 15 days.

In the present case, the Assistant Executive Engineer (distribution) at Singampunari in Sivaganga district had directly passed a final assessment order, demanding Rs. 1.15 lakh from the owner of a flour mill on charges of theft bypassing the electric meter, the judge said and quashed the assessment order.

Power supply modernisation scheme announced The Hindu: August 10, 2016

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Monday announced a mega scheme to convert 17,535 transformers into Ring Main Units (RMU) in the city and its suburbs at a cost of Rs. 1,750 crore to make them safe and free from accidents. (RMU is a totally sealed, gas-insulated compact switchgear unit).

She said Chennai and its sub-urban areas had a total of 23,715 transmission transformers and changing weather conditions affect transmission lines, causing interruption in power supply.

“Repairing is delayed during rainy season and also cause accidents,” she said explaining the reason for converting them into RMUs.

Ms. Jayalalithaa also announced her government’s plan to replace 38,844 pillar boxes with HRC 6-way pillar boxes at a cost of Rs. 270 crore.

India announces Repowering Policy for wind energy projects The Economic Times: August 9, 2016

The objective of the Repowering policy is to promote optimum utilization of wind energy resources by creating a facilitative framework, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) said in a statement.

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In a bid to infuse a new lease of life in India's wind energy sector, the Narendra Modi government today announced a new policy for repowering of wind power projects. The policy has the potential to turn around a bulk of the 27,000 Megawatt of the existing installed wind generation capacity in the country.

Repowering refers to replacing ageing wind turbines with more powerful and modern units in order to raise electricity generation levels at the refurbished wind sites. The process involves replacing old machines with fewer, larger and taller modern units which are quiter, more reliable and can produce more electricity.

The objective of the Repowering policy is to promote optimum utilization of wind energy resources by creating a facilitative framework, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) said in a statement. India had started harnessing wind power around 1990 and the present installed capacity of over 27,000 Mw is fourth largest in the world after China, USA and Germany.

Most of the wind-turbines installed up to the year 2000 are of capacity below 500 Kilowatt (kW) and are at sites having high wind energy potential. It is estimated that over 3,000 Mw capacity installations are from wind turbines of around 500 kW or below. Repowering is required to optimally utilise the wind energy resources.

"Initially wind turbine generators of capacity 1 MW and below would be eligible for repowering under the policy. Based on the experience, MNRE can extend the repowering policy to other projects also," the ministry said.

As part of the Repowering policy, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) will provide an additional interest rate rebate of 0.25 per cent over and above the interest rate rebates available to the new wind projects being financed by IREDA. Also, all existing fiscal and financial benefits available to the new wind projects will be available to the repowering project as per applicable conditions.

The repowering projects would be implemented through the respective State Nodal Agency or Organisation involved in the promotion of wind energy in the state. Under the policy, state transmission utility will provide augmentation of transmission system from pooling station onwards.

In cases where power is being procured by state discoms through PPA, the power generated corresponding to average of last three years' generation prior to repowering would continue to be procured on the terms of PPA in-force and remaining additional generation would either be purchased by Discoms at Feed-in-Tariff applicable in the state at the time of commissioning of the repowering project and allowed for third party sale.

States will also facilitate acquiring additional footprint required for higher capacity turbines. A wind farm or turbine undergoing repowering would be exempted from not honouring the PPA for the non-availability of generation during the period of execution of repowering. Similarly, in case of repowering by captive users, they will be allowed to purchase power from grid during the period of execution of repowering on payment of charges as determined by the regulator.

The ministry also clarified that no additional financial liability will be met by MNRE for implementing the Repowering Policy. The repowering projects may avail Accelerated Depreciation benefit or Generation Based Incentive (GBI) as per the conditions applicable to new wind power projects. Also, the policy would be reviewed by the Government as and when required.

Repowering policy could boost wind energy capacity The Hindu: August 14, 2016

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In a boost to wind energy potential in Tamil Nadu, the Centre has announced new policy for repowering of wind energy projects.

Repowering refers to replacing ageing wind turbines with powerful and modern units in order to boost power generation. It can help old wind sites to more than double their installed capacities.

“There is an immense opportunity for repowering specifically in the States of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, since they were amongst the early adopters of wind energy way back in 1990s and the wind turbines are nearing the end of their lifecycle,” Tulsi Tanti, Chairman and Managing Director, Suzlon Group, told The Hindu .

A recent report from India Ratings and Research said providing certainty in grid availability can make Tamil Nadu attractive for repowering of old wind turbines, which accounted for an installed capacity of 1900 MW in 2003.

According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), most of the wind turbines installed till year 2000 are of below 500kw capacity. It estimates that over 3000 MW wind capacity installation is from wind turbines of 500kw or below. As per the policy, initially wind turbine generators of capacity 1 MW and below would be eligible for repowering. Based on experience, the Ministry can extend the policy to other projects.

The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) will provide an additional interest rate rebate of 0.25 per cent over and above the interest rate rebates available to the new wind projects being financed by IREDA, the policy said, putting the onus on the State nodal agency or organisation involved in the promotion of wind energy. According to the policy, wind farm or turbine undergoing repowering would be exempted from not honouring the power purchase agreement for non-availability of generation during the period of execution of repowering.

Where power is being procured by State discoms through PPA, the power generated corresponding to average of last three years’ generation prior to repowering would continue to be procured on the terms of PPA in-force, and the remaining additional generation would either be purchased by discoms at feed-in-tariff applicable in the State at the time of commissioning of the repowering project or allowed for third party sale, says the policy, adding that repowered wind capacity can also claim accelerated depreciation and generation-based incentives as per the conditions applicable to new wind power projects.

Challenges before policy

However, experts point out some challenges in the repowering policy. “The policy says that a part of the electricity generated from repowered project will be sold at the original PPA which could be at a lower rate than today’s feed-in tariff,” Shantanu Jaiswal, analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said.

Both accelerated depreciation and generation-based incentives are applicable only till March 2017, so it would be difficult for repowered projects to get those benefits, he points out.

Another challenge comes in the form of transmission. “The State utilities have several other priorities and the required changes (from designing to commissioning) could take a couple of years to complete, ” he notes.

Modi, Jaya and Putin to dedicate Kudankulam Nuclear Plant Unit-I today New Indian Express: August 10, 2016

NEARLY three decades after the first contract was inked between India and Russia — a period that saw the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resultant change in world order, and as many as 10 governments at the Centre — Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian

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President Vladimir Putin and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will jointly dedicate Unit 1 of the KudankulamNuclear Power Plant on Wednesday afternoon.

The function will be organised over video conferencing between the three leaders in their respective capitals and the fourth point will be at the plant site in Tirunelveli, top officials at KKNPP told Express. The chairman and managing director of Nuclear Power Corporation of India and site director RS Sundar, among others, will be present during the function.

Speaking to Express in the midst of making arrangements for the event, Sundar, a man from Tirunelveli who was appointed the site director, said the Unit 1 was now generating 1,000 MWe of power. “The second unit, which achieved criticality a month ago, will begin power production by month end,” he said.

The complex is en route to becoming the biggest such in the country — the framework agreement for units 5 and 6 will reportedly be ready by the end of the year. “Excavation work is now going on for units 3 and 4,” he added.

Police sources said they had not deployed any additional forces, but intelligence agencies are monitoring the protesters.

This is a major milestone for the project that has been beset with troubles of various kinds over the years: soon after the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Inter-Governmental deal in 1988, it was stuck in the international and domestic political developments in both countries.

The governments led by Deve Gowda and Boris Yeltsin revived it in 1998, and the contract was signed by the ones headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Putin in 2002. The civil work began almost immediately.

There were other setbacks as well, including the death of project director Sunil Kumar Agarwal due to illness, and that of Sergei Ryzhov, chief designer of the plant’s light water VVER reactor, in a plane crash in 2011.

But the biggest challenge it faced was when people from the coastal villages that surrounded the plant rose in protest against setting the complex. They were alarmed after reports began coming in about radiation contamination, when a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan was flooded following tsunami.

The activists, whose campaigns were rather passive till then, quickly captured the opportunity to raise a massive and well-organised protest in the second half of 2011. It was not enough to stop the project, but they managed to slow it down and also raised a series of questions about the liability clause, an important but seldom discussed aspect till then.

35% of India’s total thermal power capacity lying unused The Economic Times: August 17, 2016

More than a third of India's 303 gigawatt thermal power capacity is lying unused while the rest is running at a shade over 55% utilisation owing to inadequate demand. Analysts said utilisation is expected to fall further if more capacity is added as planned by the government, portending losses for power firms. About 35% of the total capacity, or 104 gigawatt, is lying idle at present. The government added about 24,000 mw of fresh conventional capacity last year and plans to add 86 gigawatt by 2022. In addition, 100 gigawatt of solar capacity is to be added by 2022.

"Falling capacity utilisation translates into losses and inability of new power plants to service interest costs, leading to non-performing assets at banks," said a senior analyst, who did not wish to be identified.

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The list of shut units includes a chunk of 31gigawatt capacity that was set up after 2009. These include 6,360 mw capacity that does have power supply contracts with distribution companies but is lying shut due to non-availability of coal. Another 5,650 mw have neither coal nor power supply contracts with any distribution company. The next set of 9,316 mw have coal supply contracts but does not have power supply agreements. Yet another set of 2,940 mw have letter of coal supply assurance from Coal India and has managed to sign power purchase agreements but has not been receiving coal from the state-run miner. The last set includes 3,300 mw of plants that do not have power purchase agreements and despite Coal India's assurance of supplies, have not been receiving coal.

"While plants are shut due to unavailability of coal, Coal India is saddled with some 45 million tonnes of coal as of July 31. Its stock position has reached a level where the company is being forced to scale down productions, yet power plants are not receiving coal because the government is yet to change a policy that was framed when coal was in short supply," said Ashok Khurana, director general of the Association of Power Producers.

If these new plants are allowed to receive coal they could have generated power and sold them at least at the power exchanges, Khurana said.

"These could have reduced power prices further but these power companies could at least recover their interest cost and service their debt burden," he said. Nonetheless, of the rest, about 72 gigawatt, some are shut due to water shortage, some due to equipment failure and yet another set has been shut because its operations have turned uneconomical due to age of equipment.

These include a set of plants with 11gigawatt capacity that are shut as part of planned maintenance which is likely to come on stream within a fortnight

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